Monday, May 17, 2010

Jazz fans, I wanted to begin by thanking you for listening. Not just to this show, but to jazz in general.

This radio show began freshman year as a way to relax. I doubt I will find anything I like more than simply sitting down and writing a good playlist. Over the past four years, however, your attention to the Jazz Connexion, and to all the programming on KWLC, has inspired me to discover a new set of motives for putting together a show. Playing songs and artists that could be both enjoyable to the lay listener and intellectually challenging to even the staunchest jazz critic strikes prime middle ground between expert educator and musically elite snob. I hope I have presented myself as the former through this program.

Over the past four years, I would get occasional comments about songs you liked, or didn't like, or that you just thought were interesting. I cannot describe the immense joy that I got when someone would come up to me the day after my show and say, Hey Pete, I really like the sound of that Brian Blade guy, or, Yea man, that Esperanza chick is incredible. This simple compliment, not only that you lisened but that you appreciated the music, meant that your palate could now be cleanzed and ready for the world of jazz. From Brian Blade, you can get into Kurt Rosenwinkle. From Esperanza Spalding, you can get into Francisco Mela and Lionel Loueke. From there, there is no telling which direction our tastes will take us. I hope that some of the music I have played has inspired at least a little bit of drive to explore jazz further in your own lives. If nothing else, I hope that, as a listener of the program, could listen past the initial "Oh, thats jazz...like in Starbucks" reaction to hear the raw emotion and artful expression that exists in America's original artform.

In programming tonight's show, I had the average listener in mind. The playlist tonight is entirely made up of songs that I have played in the past, that you have commented on. It is also a "Best of the Past Four Years" (the entire playlist is made up of records that have been released since 2006 when I started as a DJ), so as to properly bookend my time at KWLC. These are songs that you liked, in addition to the fact that they will forever be in my head as the soundtrack of my time at KWLC.

I cannot tell you how much your listenership has meant to me, and I hope that you have been able to grow in taste and perception as much as I have in the past four years. It's been a good run. Thanks.

*For my Father, Charlie**For my Mother, Rita***For my Friends****For my boss, Jen*****For Billy Idol, who may or may not be a regular listener

The Theme Music to the Jazz Connexion was pulled from my #1 Desert Island Album:Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen with Ulf Wakenius and Jonas Johansen - The Unforgettable NHØP Trio Live - You and the Night and the Music

Honorable Mention goes to the Esbjorn Svensson Trio for their domination of the jazz world from humble Scandinavia and for their progressive, approachable style. Their leader and pianist Esbjorn Svensson died in a scuba accident in Stockholm in this Summer of 2008. Their last album Leucocyte had been completed and was released shortly after his death.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Back in high school, when I began listening to jazz music, my friends were all getting into hip hop. They were introducing me to A Tribe Called Quest, KRS One, and the whole Rhymesayers Crew. As I listened to more and more jazz in my free time, and more and more hip hop with my friends, I was unable to separate the two in my mind. Jazz was teeming with the beat heavy elements of hip hop, and it seemed like every decent hip hop song was based around cuts from classic jazz albums. I soon came to the conclusion that the two truly were inseparable, and that when you combined the two, the spoken word art that dominated hip hop was nothing more than another instrument added to the color of the jazz combo, at least in the hip hop that I enjoyed. This was never better exemplified than when I discovered Guru and MC Solaar's side project Jazzmatazz (see above). Tonight's program was focused around my continuing obession with this relationship betweent the two artforms and the continuing developments in this unique media. As hip hop continues to utilize jazz samples, jazz as an artform becomes more and more centered on the beat heavy hip hop style. Last week we heard from Robert Glasper, one of the first Blue Noter's to dive into this burgeoning genre. Here is the playlist for the program.

The Luther College Concert Band began in 1905 when Carlo A. Sperati, a Luther grad, became the music director of the college. The band had been founded in 1878, modeled after John Philip Sousa's group. The band soon gained worldwide notoriety following their international tours, which began in 1914. As the current LCCB prepares themselves for yet another international trip, this time to Japan, KWLC wanted to feature the variety of music that is provided by the group. As a three and a half year member of the group, as a tubist, I was honored to program the following playlist that features the eclectic mix of marches, ballads, and contemporary and even avant-garde pieces that the World Famous Luther College Concert Band prepares each semester. If you were not able to catch the broadcast and you are in the Decorah area, LCCB will be performing Friday May 21st in the CFL on the campus of Luther College.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

So far, this blog has served as a way to fulfill my narcissistic, self-aggrandizing desires to tell you, the reader, about what I'm doing. I masked this by pretending that this was a way for me to codify my college radio career, which I hope has been influential to anyone who has tuned into the program or any others on KWLC. I have worked as a DJ at KWLC for 4 years. I have been a Jazz Music Director and Station Manager for the past 3 years. I care immensely about the work that this station is doing and I care even more about the path it is going down in the future. I believe that college radio is the last truly independent media where people can determine and express what they believe is worth spreading around to the general public. We are the gatekeepers. Our tiny 1000 watt station, in particular, has a tradition of independence and progressionand it is always a bit nerve wracking (also incredibly exciting) when the reigns are handed to the next generation of volunteer staffers. I have never been able to articulate these feelings as well as Joe Thor, a sophomore jazz DJ and our future promotions director, has in this past week's publication of "The AM."From April 25, 2010 - E Pluribus KWLCHere at Luther College, KWLC is a broad term referring to a family of music lovers and radio devotees. We are broadcast 56 hours a week, providing a range of programming from the likes of jazz, sports, rock, dance, politics, classical, hip-hop, blues, and world music. Each week, our DJs devote free time to listen to the newest albums from various record labels, and create an hour of quality programming that reflects their personality and passion for music. Our goal is simple: to expose as many people to great music and programming as we possibly can, and to provide a creative outlet for those individuals who care enough about music to devote their time and energy to our station.

KWLC was founded in 1926, and since then we have been continuously on the air. Having survived the Great Depression, the station has grown and changed in ways that the original founders could not have imagined. With the ability to stream our music online, KWLC can reach anywhere in the world where an Internet connection is available. Even a few astronauts floating above Earth might be able to tune in if they are so inclined. This year alone has seen our radio station branching out and exploring new ideas and concepts. KWLC now provides a weekly Radio Drama that is the brainchild of Amie Heller, and host of other motivated individuals on Saturdays. The jazz DJs have presented three different specials in this last semester alone; ABCs of Jazz, a Spotlight of Instruments, and most recently, Profiles in Jazz. “Partisan the Interruption,” is a political talk show organized and recorded right here on campus, combining humor and knowledge in a fantastic show which is both fun and interesting to listen to. KWLC’s hallmark is quality and creative programming: Regardless of when you tune in, you are sure to hear something that is the result of caring and passionate individuals.

The end of this school year marks another changing of the guards at KWLC. As sad as it is to see seniors leave for the dreaded real world, it provides an opportunity for all of you folks. KWLC broadcasts 56 hours a week, which means we need at least 56 devoted individuals to ensure our favorite noncommercial radio station keeps broadcasting its great music and programming, as it has for the last 80+ years. If you are devoted, love music, and most importantly, you want to share your passion for music with others at Luther, in Decorah, and around the world- HERE IS YOUR CHANCE! Keep your eyes open when you arrive at Luther next fall, when audition information will be posted around campus. KWLC is the result of people like you; help continue this great Luther tradition by adding your creativity and passion to this long-standing institution. Out of many, there is KWLC. E Pluribus KWLC.

We started tonight's program with a froed, scarf-clad pianist named Jacky Terrasson (left). Born in Berlin, raised in Paris, currently based in NY, Terrasson has made his Concord Record label debut with his new album Push, which follows 10 Blue Note releases. The winner of the 1993 Thelonius Monk Piano Competition features bassist Ben Williams and drummer Jamire Williams on his new album. You may recognize Jamire's name from the four records that phenom fashionista and trumpeter Chrisitan Scott has released in the past few years. Also on this album is Scott's regular guitarist Matt Stevens as well as regular Lionel Loueke collaborator and saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart. In particular, Stevens is featured on the bouncing track "Say Yeah," which sounds like it belongs more on Paul Simon's Graceland than on a progressive piano trio album. Terrasson hasn't lost any of his luster after 15+ years in the business. This 11-track album features 7 originals, 2 Monk covers, a Cole Porter tune and a melange of Michael Jackson's"Beat It" and the standard "Body and Soul." The variety in both song selection and tone throughout the album blasts Terrasson's Push into a realm that is much more than just another piano trio album.

Also featured on the Jazz Connexion this weekend was Italian Fusion bassist Roberto Badoglio, jazz/ hip-hop pianist Robert Glasper, New Orleans young guns Trombone Shorty and Christian Scott, and Free-Jazz pioneers John Tchaicai on alto (from Coltrane's Ascension), Roswell Rudd (1st free jazz trombonist), Finn von Eyben on bass and Louis Moholo on drummer (both from The Blue Notes and Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath). Their record Old Stuff is from 1965, where they recorded under the name The New York Art Quartet.

Thanks for tuning in. Join me next week for another hour of great music.

As always, thank you for tuning into the Jazz Connexion. The next two weeks will be relatively normal in their programming, building up to the final show on May 16th which will feature my top picks in jazz from the past 4 years (the span of time that I've been on the air on KWLC). See you next week.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Tonight's episode of the Jazz Connexion featured a profile on the prodigious, 25 year-old Esperanza Spalding. Her claim to fame is playing her bass and singing simultaneously. Since her debut at 15 with Portland group Noise for Pretend, she has created a spectacular, and still blossoming, solo career that shows why she is seen as her generation's most electrifying jazz star. This has resulted in pairings with legends Mike Stern, Francisco Mela, Lionel Loueke, Joe Lovano, and many others, right alongside fellow up-and-comers Christian Scott and Aaron Parks. Bass in hand, Esperanza infuses Afro-Caribbean grooves with Prince songs and manages to marry the driving sounds of Loud Rock with the lightest most delicate bass lines. Hers is a name to watch for, and certainly someone to be listening to whether you're an experienced connoisseur or you're trying to take your first steps into the world of jazz.

The following is tonight's playlist. All songs feature Esperanza Spalding on the vocals and/or bass.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

With Spring Break and Easter Break falling so close to each other, it has been over a month since the Jazz Connexion has been aired at its normal time. This was an exciting and progressive show. Thanks for listening.

Alas, this evening we ran out of minutes. If only time were on my side. In the coming weeks expect to hear Bobby Previte & Bump from their album Counterclockwise.

Coming up next weekend (4/17-19), the KWLC Jazz Staff is going to provide you with 9 hours of edutainment via Artist Profiles. Each DJ will pick an artist and show their work in every context that it exists (i.e. solo works, composition, as a sideman). Tune in to hear profiles of pianist Matthew Shipp Saturday 8-9am, saxophonist John Coltrane right afterward from 9-10am. On Sunday, pianist Bill Anschell from 530-630p, drummer Stanton Moore from 630-730p, bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding on the Jazz Connexion from 730-830p, drummer/composer Dave King from 830-930p and then reed-master Anat Cohen 10p-11p on Monday night, followed by guitarist Lionel Loueke from 11p-12a, and Thelonious Monk from 12-1a.

Be sure to tune in for a weekend of wonderful music. Click here to view the entire KWLC Schedule.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The following article was printed in the "View From Old Main" section in the March 17th issue of The Gadfly at Luther College.

We live in a truly advanced age. Our lives are all driven byconstantly surging technological advances that are continually progressing. Their impact has never felt more present than when listening to much of our current musical trends. Auto-tuners have replaced human voices, beat creating software has all but replaced the drummer, and digital samples have replaced the need to be creative when writing songs. Like it or not, this is the artistic world that most of us are living in. What this has caused is a movement crying out for the old-fashioned, even for a regression, when attempting to reclaim the musical art form from the automated future that it has fallen into (see Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Daptone Gold, even the raw sound of Fleet Foxes, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Bon Iver).

Nonchalantly straddling this border is a jazz guitarist named Pat Metheny. Hailing originally from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Metheny has been one of the most innovative and important musical pioneers of the last 30 years. Widely known as jazz’s greatest modern guitarist, Metheny’s signature tone and style has characterized his work since his outbreak album, Bright Size Life, back in 1976. Since then, his band mates have represented the best musicians known to the fusion and post-fusion jazz worlds, including Jaco Pastorious and Bob Moses (each of whom were featured on Bright Size Life), Gary Burton, Charlie Haden, Ornette Coleman, Brad Mehldau, Antonio Sanchez, Christian McBride, Lyle Mays, Danny Gottlieb, and Chick Corea. Among others, these players have been part of the revolving door that is Pat’s complex musical life. So where do we go from here? The answer is simple: Orchestrion.

Metheny’s most recent album, Orchestrion (Nonesuch Records), features himself on guitar and Orchestrionics, which is a team of automated guitars, basses, pianos, and percussion, all of which are controlled either through his guitar, or by using a series of foot pedals (there is a fantastic video of the “band” on patmetheny.com). Officially inspired by his grandfather’s century old player piano, Metheny’s “reinvention of the one-man band” has brought an entirely new concept to the solo album. In a video promoting the album on his website, Metheny stares wide-eyed at his room full of mechanized instruments and marvels at how wonderful it is that every single sound on the album has been “something I created.” Metheny, who has achieved fame as a solo artist and as a collaborator, has now egotistically found a way toassume both roles simultaneously.

Orchestrion was created by Metheny, Mark Herbert, Eric Singer, and the League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR) after new solenoid technology was developed allowing Pat Metheny to “play [his] guitar with his feet.”Cool right? Naturally, when you’ve reached this point, the next step is to tour around the world with a band of robots that obey your every command. The technology used on the album, which is a mix of solenoids and pneumatic switches that combines a mix of prerecorded loops and simultaneous doubling of Metheny’s guitar riffs that create a color that is equivalent to those provided by his previous bands. The color is a sweeping, sprawling whirlwind of sound that can only be provided by six 12-string guitars being played with robotic arms and transplanted piano hammers, unless, of course, you used real people.

No matter how incredible a feat this album is, all of those fans with a critical ear will notice that it lacks a very important element. While embodying a certain progressive, fusion sound that can drive many Django purists to retreat to their boxes of old 35’s, Pat Metheny has been able to do something that many other artists in his genre have been unable to accomplish. Up until this point, Metheny has done nothing to jazz but introduce new colors (guitar effects, stylistic elements) and new feels (lots of mixed meter compositions that add to the weightless driving sound he is known for). Unlike his archenemy Kenny G, he has managed to play an un-bastardized form of jazz that has remained both pedagogically intelligent, yet progressively approachable to both jazz fans and non-jazz fans alike. Like several of his predecessors, for example Louis Armstrong, Metheny’s music is incredibly appealing to the lay listener, all the while allowing you space to dive into the immense world of jazz theory and trace an artist’s stylistic influences back to their roots. This results in an impact that is nothing less than mind blowing and often becomes the stuff of legend

With this in mind, it is essential to point out that, like all talented artists, athletes and celebrities, it is often those people surrounding them that make them great. Louis Armstrong was a great trumpeter, but his Hot 5’s and Hot 7’s - the two groups that helped him to record his first album – made him better. Pat Metheny is great, but playing without the Lyle Mays’, or Antonio Sanchez’s of the world, his music loses the powerful soul that it once possessed.

It is no surprise that with Orchestrion, however technologically innovative it may be, has lost the emotional, human connection that former Metheny albums have been triumphed for. The colors are brilliant, but they somehow sound shallow and flat. The drumming is technically perfect, but lacks the drive and the fortitude of a living, breathing drummer. The guitars are perfect in time, rhythm and pitch, but they lack the minor, virtually un-noticeable inconsistencies that somehow make good albumsgreat. So why do it? Metheny draws inspiration from Ray Kurzweil, “one of the most visionary thinkers in the world” who also often works in the musical side of artificial intelligence. When asked this question, “why do you do this,” Kurzweil responded, to “extend our reach.” Metheny goes on to point out that “good notes, once revealed, seem to carry their own intrinsic value with them forward, however they came to be.” Simply put, Metheny doesn’t care where the music comes from. If it’s good, it’s good, thus expressing a surprisingly Midwestern attitude from the international superstar.

Pat Metheny’s Orchestion has successfully reinvented the player piano, and significantly added to the oeuvre of mechanical and robotic instruments, but it neglects one simple fact that we learned over a hundred years ago: player pianos never sound nearly as good as the real thing. When criticizing certain modern movements of jazz (Kenny G), Metheny is quoted saying, “just like in rock and roll, we have to remember that 95% of jazz music is really bad.” Unfortunately for him, this album leans toward the majority category simply due to its lack of the human expressive element. This is a band of machines, and it plays like one.

Pat Metheny is currently with his Orchestrionics touring throughout Europe. The group will perform live at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul on May 9th.

So I've been doing a lot of radio in the past few weeks and it was too much to keep up with on these updates. In lieu of actually playlists, I've decided to throw some of my favorites from the past 20 hours or so that I've spent on the air on Luther College Radio.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

As you're hearing tonight's program, I will be playing tuba with the Big Brass Bed Quintet in Nate Engh's trombone recital. We're playing a Bach cantata called "How I Will Rejoice" (trans. English). Just thought I'd let you know...

Appropriately enough,the Jazz Connextion this evening is a feature of the Tubists of Jazz. I will be chronicling their rise from Dixieland and New Orleans Brass styles via Chicago w/ Louis Armstrong, then throughout the Midwest and all of America with big bands and onward to Hollywood (for the movies) and other extravagant. Hope you enjoy this! Follow the links for tuba related nonsense. Also, spend some time on KWLC.

Hey team. I hope you enjoyed the program. I played in a band concert on Sunday with WFLCCB, so this was a prerecorded show. This was the first in a three week run of pre-recorded shows, so if you have any requests please email them to me at . If you're interested, I'll be canning the show from the 7th (which is a tuba jazz themed show) because I'm playing in Nate Engh's senior trombone recital at 7pm in the NRH at Luther. Next up, on the 14th of March (soul jazz themed show) I'll be taking part in a trivia contest for Habitat for Humanity with other members of KWLC. Hope you enjoy the music, and you're more than welcome at each of the events listed above.

1. Coleman Hawkins - Meets the Big Sax Section - There is Nothing Like A Dame2. The Louis Hayes Group - Variety Is The Spice - Stardust3. James Zollar - Zollar Systems - Slick4. EEA - The Dark - Keystone5. Aram Shelton's Fast Citizen's - Two Cities - Big News6. The Heath Brothers - Passing Thru - A New Blue7. Sherman Irby Quartet - Live at the Otto Club - Countdown8. Charlie Hunter - Gentlemen, I Neglect to Inform You That You Will Not Be Getting Paid - High Pockets and a Fanny Pack9. Johnny Smith's - Kaleidoscope - By Myself

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Hey everyone. Thanks so much for listening. Tonight we had an emerging vocal star paired up with Shirley Horn, an emerging world-jazz star paired up with Joao Gilberto, and a little Von Freeman thrown in there for luck (one of his most recent recordings at the age of 80). Von is currently 87 years old.

Here's the playlist for tonight's show. Tune in every Sunday night from 530-930 for the best Jazz Northeastern Iowa has to offer.